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Piano Sonata No. 14 (Beethoven)
(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
The Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor "Quasi una fantasia", Op. 27, No. 2, by Ludwig van Beethoven, is popularly known as the "Moonlight" Sonata. The work was completed in 1801[1] and dedicated to his pupil, 17-year-old Countess Giulietta Guicciardi,[2] with whom Beethoven was, or had been in love.[3] The name "Moonlight" Sonata derives from a 1832 description of the first movement by poet Ludwig Rellstab, who compared it to moonlight shining upon Lake Lucerne.[4][1]
Beethoven included the phrase "Quasi una fantasia" (Italian: Like a fantasy) in the title because the sonata does not follow the traditional sonata pattern where the first movement is in regular sonata form and where the movements are arranged in a fast-slow-fast sequence.
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